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SakyaC
Joined: Feb 10, 2007
Posts: 1
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Gender & Age: Male & 20
Country: United States
Province/State: Arizona
City: Flagstaff
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Desecration of Native American Beliefs in the name of Economic Security
June 14, 2009 - 05:11 PM
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I live in Flagstaff, Arizona U.S.A., and there is an ongoing debate in this little city about religious freedom regarding the use of a sacred site for economic opportunity. In the Navajo tradition, we hold mountains that surround our reservation as sacred entities and we revere them for their beauty and the fact that many herbs and tobaccos that we use in religious ceremonies for healing grow naturally on these mountains.
So in Flagstaff in particular, we have a large 12,280 foot volcanic mountain called the San Francisco peaks, and in the Navajo language we call it Doo'ko'slid', and the issue that is so controversial in this area is that there is a Skii Resort that was built 2 decades ago that relies completely on the natural snow fall during the winter months for business. They intend to extend the snow season by using treated sewage water to make snow and spread it over the skii slopes. This is the root of the controversy because the Native americans who live in arizona see this as a complete desecration of our religious freedom to protect our ceremonial herbs and to protect our sacred sites.
The city of flagstaff says that it is absolutely essential that they extend the snow season because the local economy is completely dependent on the attraction of tourists who wish to skii on the San Francisco peaks.
I just want some of your thoughts on whether it is justifiable in the name of economic impacts on this city to completely disregard the feelings and apprehensions of Native americans? Or are we wrong to dispute this blatant discrimination?
This post was edited on: 2009-06-22 at 08:40 PM by: sakyacalsoyas1
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